SEEDSof Hope
Calm in the Classroom, Partnering with Urban Community School
Across classrooms in Ohio, a transformation is underway. Schools are increasingly recognizing that academic success is deeply connected to emotional well-being, and they’re responding by surrounding students with the support they need to thrive. That’s why OhioGuidestone’s role as the state’s largest provider of school-based services is so vital— strengthening partnerships like the one with Urban Community School (UCS) in Cleveland.
Founded 57 years ago by the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland, UCS has always focused on serving the whole child. For many years, that meant relying on a traditional guidance counselor model. But in 2019, the school began seeking a more comprehensive, trauma-informed approach. “We didn’t need to reinvent the wheel,” says Liz Richmond, Director of Mental Health & Counseling Services at UCS. “We needed a strong partner in the space who could do this well with us.”
UCS recognizes the vital connection between mental health and learning, while also understanding the barriers families often face in accessing care—such as time and transportation. To address those barriers, the school brings services directly to campus, including therapists from OhioGuidestone.
Care begins as early as pre-kindergarten, where early childhood therapists provide classroom interventions, skill-building, and family support. Using creative, relationship-driven approaches— sometimes practiced on the carpet instead of in a chair—students are able to internalize new skills and apply them in real time.
OhioGuidestone follows a three-tiered model of school-based support, focusing on prevention, consultation, and treatment aimed at strengthening students’ social-emotional learning.
FROM THE CEO
As we start a new school year and turn the page on summer 2025, I’m proud to share some of the incredible strides we’ve made in supporting children, youth, and families across Ohio.
OhioGuidestone was chosen by Ohio’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OHMAS) to oversee the expansion of Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) in three regions across the state. We spent the summer setting up programs, hiring more team members, and preparing to launch these important services that will be available for all youth under 21 through the 988 hotline.
Our school-based services are more expansive than ever with new resources to meet the growing need for youth behavioral health support, both in and out of the classroom. We couldn’t do it without partners like our featured story about Urban Community School in Cleveland.
We held our first therapeutic summer program for children who need help processing trauma and other emotions. “Creative Camp” used the techniques of Expressive Arts to teach new emotional regulation and coping skills to the young campers.
And lastly, our latest cohort of young professionals are starting new careers in healthcare and construction, having completed our YouthBuild program. Congratulations to our Graduates!
So, let’s enjoy these last weeks of summer, and get ready to celebrate our clients who are our superheroes at our Evolution Gala presented by Blue Technologies on September 20th at Hotel Cleveland.
Brant Russell, President and CEO
• Prevention services include evidence-based prevention programs focused on substance use prevention, suicide and violence prevention, as well as resilience-building and emotional skill development.
• Consultation involves early identification and intervention through classroom observations, teacher consultation, and crisis intervention services.
• Treatment offers individualized therapy and behavioral health support services for students who need additional support beyond prevention and consultation.
The school’s wraparound philosophy extends beyond mental health. The campus houses several nonprofits offering aftercare, refugee services, summer programs, workforce development for parents, and a community medical center. The ability to integrate mental health care into the school ecosystem has reduced stigma and made receiving mental health services normalized, even celebrated. “Students receiving mental health services are some of the most resilient,” Richmond notes. “They’re open about their challenges, and develop tools that serve them for years to come.”
The impact of OhioGuidestone at UCS is clear. “We’ve seen suspension and student departures decrease,” Richmond says. “Classrooms run more smoothly, and families who might never access mental health care in the community are able to get it here, in a place that feels like home.”
Tom Gill, UCS President, says the trust is mutual: “We know that when a child needs help, OhioGuidestone is a reliable and competent partner who can respond in real time. They speak our language because they’re part of our community.”
This partnership is not just about addressing challenges, it’s about equipping students with lifelong skills and ensuring that every child has an equal opportunity to succeed, both inside and outside the classroom. Urban Community School is located at 4909 Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.
Crisis Can’t Wait. Neither Can We.
OhioGuidestone Selected to Lead MRSS Efforts in 3 Ohio Regions
Earlier this year, OhioGuidestone was chosen by Ohio’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to provide Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) in three regions of Ohio.
MRSS provides immediate help for youth aged 20 and under who are experiencing overwhelming mental, emotional, or behavioral distress or trauma that is impacting their ability to function within their family, school, or community.
With MRSS, a team of trained behavioral health professionals will respond within 60 minutes of a call being placed to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The mobile team will respond to a young person’s home, school, or any other location in the community. The MRSS team helps calm the situation by offering immediate de-escalation, ensuring everyone is safe, and creating a plan for comprehensive wraparound care with up to 42 days of ongoing support.
No issue is too large or too small. If it feels like a crisis to the youth or their family, MRSS is available to help.
For the first time, MRSS services are now available across the entire state of Ohio through a network of regional behavioral health organizations.
We’re honored OhioGuidestone was selected to provide these critical services in three regions across the state including:
• Region 3: Cuyahoga County
• Region 9: Delaware, Knox, Licking, and Morrow Counties
• Region 11: Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana,
Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, Stark, and Tuscarawas Counties
Additionally, OhioGuidestone will provide MRSS services in Erie County, supporting operations in Region 14 in partnership with Coleman Health Services.
MRSS and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline are essential tools to support the mental health of all Ohioans. OhioGuidestone is proud to have been chosen to deliver these vital services across Ohio, and has already hired more than 50 individuals across the state to support the initiative.
To learn more about MRSS please visit: OhioGuidestone.org/MRSS Regional MRSS Provider Map
Where Art and Healing Meet: Summer Creativity Camp
This summer, some of our teen and youth clients joined us for OhioGuidestone’s Creativity Camp, where they leveraged creative forms of expression on their healing journey.
Based at our Perrysburg, OH location, the camp offered a space for children to safely explore emotions, process trauma, build resilience, and learn to connect with others.
Art Therapist Maddy VanHorn led the camp, incorporating Expressive Arts Therapy to address the emotional shifts that summer can bring. “Summer can be tough for some kids,” VanHorn explains. “Without the structure and support of school, they can feel isolated or overwhelmed. This camp gives them tools to cope and a place to belong.”
Each day, campers dove into hands-on activities that are as therapeutic as they are fun. They built “anger volcanoes” to understand emotional eruptions, created bubble prints to practice deep breathing, and used slime as a sensory grounding technique to learn to stay present in the moment. The “crafts” are actually exercises that are carefully designed to help kids recognize and manage their emotions.
Between paint splatters and gooey messes something powerful happened. Campers began to
open up and share their emotions. “It was amazing to watch them use the skills they were learning to manage their frustration, worries, and sadness,” VanHorn said, reflecting on the transformation she witnessed over the course of the sessions.
Creativity Camp ran two one-week-long sessions, each with a small, consistent group that fostered trust and connection for a lasting impact.
VanHorn is developing additional art-based therapy groups in Wood County, including an adult group called “Express to De-Stress,” which starts this fall and will focus on stress relief and coping strategies, and “Art Sparks” is in the works as an after-school art program for school-aged children.
Individual art therapy is available to children, teens, and adults in various regions across the state.
VanHorn stresses, “No artistic experience is required, just a willingness to engage in art and a desire to heal.”
To learn more about Expressive Arts and OhioGuidestone’s other services, visit our website: OhioGuidestone.org.
on family
The Rewards of Foster Care at OhioGuidestone
Foster care plays a vital role in shaping brighter futures for children in need, and families like those of Melissa Haller and Jason Streichert exemplify just how transformative that support can be. As one of more than 100 licensed foster families with OhioGuidestone, they have opened their hearts and home to six children, including some with complex medical needs.
Melissa and Jason started their journey to become foster parents six years ago through a chance encounter with one of Melissa’s coworkers who knew of a child who needed foster parents. Motivated by the desire to offer a loving and stable home, Melissa and Jason decided to pursue fostering through OhioGuidestone.
Melissa and Jason agree: it requires compassion, faith, resilience, and commitment, to step-up when a child needs placement in a foster home.
“Even when it’s hard, we keep going because we love seeing these kids thrive,” Jason said regarding difficult cases, emotional goodbyes, and the red tape that often comes with the foster care system. “But the rewards are far greater than the challenges.”
OhioGuidestone supports foster parents like Melissa and Jason every step of the way by offering training, licensing, ongoing case management, and 24/7 access to help, ensuring foster families never feel like they are alone.
Sometimes reunification isn’t possible, and fostering can transition into adoption, which turned out to be the case for Melissa and Jason. OhioGuidestone helped them through the process of adoption with two of their foster children, adding to their already growing biological family.
Now, Melissa and Jason are passionate advocates for OhioGuidestone’s foster care services, referring four new families for training and licensure.
Their advice to new foster parents is to “embrace each day, remember that challenges bring growth, and if the journey gets tough, ask for help. And for anyone considering becoming a foster caregiver, call OhioGuidestone—you might be exactly who a child needs right now.”
OhioGuidestone is always looking to grow our network of more than 100 foster families. If you are interested in opening your home to a child in need, learn more about our foster care program on our website —no experience necessary!
100 Families Strong!
Foster Care at OhioGuidestone has reached an incredible milestone. For the first time our network of foster families has grown to over 100 licensed families!
YouthBuild Advocacy Day on Capitol
This summer our YouthBuild Program Manager, Caitlin Matthews, joined leaders and advocates from across the country in Washington D.C. for YouthBuild Advocacy Day, which spotlights the life-changing aspect of the YouthBuild program.
During her time on Capitol Hill, Matthews met with the offices of Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, as well as Representative Shontel Brown’s team, and discussed the impact of OhioGuidestone’s long partnership with YouthBuild, providing hands-on training, mentorship, and more for underserved youth in Cuyahoga County.
Each year, OhioGuidestone offers cohorts of 18- to 24-year-olds an opportunity to earn income while they train for careers in construction or healthcare, and if needed, complete their high school education during the process.
Matthews described YouthBuild as more than just a program. She said, “YouthBuild is a launchpad for young people to reclaim their futures. At OhioGuidestone we’ve seen firsthand how transformative this experience can be.”
She and other advocates discussed how YouthBuild
Hill
equips young people with job skills, education, and leadership training; bridges workforce gaps; and empowers youth to build a path to a brighter future.
YouthBuild Advocacy Day is part of a larger conference that brings together policymakers, nonprofit leaders, and passionate changemakers to push for stronger federal support for workforce development.
Celebrating Our YouthBuild Graduates
The Snow Library, in Parma, OH, was filled with emotion as 34 graduates of OhioGuidestone’s YouthBuild Class of 2025 crossed the stage, ready to embrace the next chapter of their lives.
The ceremony celebrated both the 16 STNA and 18 construction students who persevered through months of study, discipline, and skill building.
The STNA group walked away as certified State Tested Nursing Assistants and Certified Nursing Assistants, while their construction peers achieved OSHA 10 and NCCER (National Center for Construction Educations & Research) credentials. Many also received their high school diplomas and additional honors for outstanding achievement. Our construction cohort was surprised with a set of tools donated by DeWalt, whose representatives were also able to attend the graduation ceremony (pictured below).
Keynote speakers were the co-facilitators of the DreamBuilders program, Chanita Jones and Jennifer Underwood. DreamBuilders is a vision-driven curriculum in YouthBuild that is designed to expand mindset principles and demonstrate leadership in the workplace. Both speakers reminded students that this journey was more than learning new skills, it’s about building a foundation for a lifetime of success.
Just by stepping into the healthcare and construction fields, these young professionals are also building stronger communities and brighter futures for everybody around them.
TIPS TO RECOGNIZE MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES IN CHILDREN & TEENS
While many kids are excited to go back to school and spend their days with friends, other kids find the start of the school year stressful. The overwhelming amount of change including new teachers, classmates, schedule changes, and more can lead to children exhibiting symptoms of anxiety. How can you distinguish normal back-to-school jitters from something more serious?
Here are some tips on recognizing when a child may need help:
• Physical complaints like daily headaches or stomachaches without a clear cause.
• Refusing to go to school, or a child who was once eager to learn, now dreads going to school.
• Excessive worry about school and related activities.
• Changes in sleep or appetite, especially on school nights.
• Loss of interest in favorite activities.
OhioGuidestone has resources that can make a significant difference in a child’s mental health, wellbeing, and academic progress. If you are concerned that your child’s back to school jitters may be something more serious, visit our website ohioguidestone.org.
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In The News
Caitlin Matthews on TV20 News Cleveland
TV20 News Cleveland shined a spotlight on OhioGuidestone’s Workforce 360° YouthBuild program, with Caitlin Matthews discussing how hands-on job training empowers 18–24-year-olds through real-world skills to build brighter futures. Watch the segment here.
Dr. Kathleen Kern Featured on WKYC
WKYC interviewed OhioGuidestone’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Kathleen Kern, about a new national survey on school avoidance. She shared how parents can validate children’s feelings and manage back-to-school anxiety to support healthy learning. Read the story on WKYC’s website.
OhioGuidestone’s Primary Care Launch Featured in The Morning Journal
The Morning Journal featured OhioGuidestone’s launch of primary care services in Lorain. The article highlights how integrating primary and behavioral health care expands access to care and supports whole-person care for the community. Read the story on The Morning Journal’s website.
EVENTSand fundraising
Help our heroes save the day!
2025 Evolution Gala September 20, 2025 Hotel Cleveland
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s OhioGuidestone’s 2025 Evolution Gala at the new Hotel Cleveland! Join us to support OhioGuidstone’s mission to provide pathways to growth, achievement, and lifelong success. Just like superheroes, OhioGuidestone’s clients are empowered to overcome life’s obstacles and take steps towards a healthier future. To learn more about the gala and sponsorship opportunities, visit our website
